U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,771, which is incorporated herein by reference in entirety, discloses a control system for a marine vessel incorporating a marine propulsion system that can be attached to a marine vessel and connected in signal communication with a serial communication bus and a controller. A plurality of input devices and output devices are also connected in signal communication with the communication bus and a bus access manager, such as a CAN Kingdom network, is connected in signal communication with the controller to regulate the incorporation of additional devices to the plurality of devices in signal communication with the bus whereby the controller is connected in signal communication with each of the plurality of devices on the communication bus. The input and output devices can each transmit messages to the serial communication bus for receipt by other devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,132,903, which is incorporated herein by reference in entirety, discloses systems and methods for maneuvering a marine vessel having a plurality of steerable propulsion devices. The plurality of propulsion devices are controlled to achieve a lateral movement by controlling the steering orientation of port and starboard propulsion devices so that forward thrusts provided by the port and starboard propulsion devices intersect at or forwardly of a center of turn of the marine vessel. One of the port and starboard propulsion devices is operated to provide a forward thrust and the other of the port and starboard propulsion devices is operated to provide a reverse thrust so that the lateral movement is achieved and a resultant yaw component is applied on the marine vessel. An intermediate propulsion device is controlled to apply an opposing yaw component on the marine vessel that counteracts the resultant yaw component.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,434,460, which is incorporated herein by reference in entirety, discloses systems for maneuvering a marine vessel comprising an input device for requesting lateral movement of the marine vessel with respect to the longitudinal axis and a plurality of propulsion devices including at least a port propulsion device, a starboard propulsion device and an intermediate propulsion device disposed between the port and starboard propulsion devices. A control circuit controls orientation of the port and starboard propulsion devices inwardly towards a common point on the marine vessel, and upon a request for lateral movement of from the input device, operates one of the port and starboard propulsion devices in forward gear, operates the other of the port and starboard propulsion devices in reverse gear, and operates the intermediate propulsion device in reverse gear.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,988,134, which is incorporated herein by reference in entirety, discloses systems and methods for controlling movement of a marine vessel extending along a longitudinal axis between a bow and a stern and along a lateral axis between a port side and a starboard side, having a first propulsion device located closer to the stern than to the bow and steerable about a first steering axis perpendicular to the longitudinal and lateral axes, a second propulsion device located closer to the bow than to the stern and steerable about a second steering axis perpendicular to the longitudinal and lateral axes. An input device is configured to input a request for movement of the marine vessel. A control module is configured to control steering and thrust of the first and second propulsion devices to achieve a resultant movement of the marine vessel commensurate with the request for movement.